OUTAGAMIE COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Out of the state’s 72 counties, Outagamie is second for COVID-19 activity, using the state’s weekly burden measure.
Each Wednesday, the state provides new case rates and trends by county and region. This week’s report shows our area has higher activity than anywhere else in the state.
Kurt Eggebrecht, Appleton Public Health Officer, tells FOX 11 he uses the state’s burden measure as a tool.
“We find that a very helpful tool because what that does is it allows us to compare one community to the next.”
If you look at total case numbers, Milwaukee and Dane Counties will always be near the top because they have the most people. The state’s burden measure takes each county’s total number of cases over the last two weeks to come up with a rate per 100,000 residents.
Right now, Forest County’s burden is highest at 544.5 cases per 100,000 people. Second is Outagamie at 414. Brown, Kewaunee, Waupaca, Oconto, and Calumet are also in the top 10. All have burden measures well above the statewide level of 191.6 per 100,000 people.
By region, only the Fox Valley and Northeast have burden levels of more than 100 above the state level. All others are below or only slightly above.
“The 14-day is a good design I think because it captures more data, so you can really see trends,” said Natalie Vandeveld, Outagamie County Public Health Officer.
“When you have a smaller window, you might see these spikes that might not be the trend throughout the 14-day window.”
Vandeveld tells FOX 11 she believes fatigue with taking precautions is playing a role in the county’s case rate. She also points to the regional testing site that opened September 1st at the Sunnyview Expo Center in Oshkosh as a possibility for boosting numbers.
“The reason why we as a health department, along with Winnebago, Calumet, City of Appleton and City of Menasha, we put in that support for that community testing because that was a need in our community.”
“We’ve seen high spots in the Madison area at some points and time,” said Eggebrecht. “We’ve seen Milwaukee’s peak. We’ve seen Brown County rise. This is our turn now to really look at these case counts and really double down on our efforts to prevent the spread.”
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